Title:Wall Street Alliance hits silver anniversary

What began as an idea between friends in the early 1990s has grown into one of the most robust networks in Georgetown’s history and the source of Georgetown’s second largest endowed scholarship. The seed for the Wall Street Alliance was planted in 1993, when William P. Frank (C’63, Parent’00,’02), Victor R. Wright (Parent’96, ’99), and James F. Higgins (B’70, Parent’99, ’08) independently proposed that the university develop a Wall Street affinity group. Each had seen similar groups at peer institutions and recognized the benefits of such an alliance, both for individual members and for universities and their students.

In 1995, the Wall Street Alliance was founded with an ambitious mission: to raise Georgetown’s profile and that of its alumni, parents, and friends in business; to create and participate in networking opportunities for business professionals; to provide networking, mentoring, and scholarship support to current and future Georgetown students; and to build relationships between members’ firms and the university for the mutually beneficial exchange of resources.

“I’ve always felt that Georgetown does a great job of staying in touch with students by class or region, but I saw an opportunity for Georgetown to connect with students by profession,” explains Wall Street Alliance Board Member John Wooters (C’75), who served as chair for five years and later joined the staff. “I think students want that and we want to support Georgetown students.”

Growth and impact

The Wall Street Alliance began with a mentorship focus.

“We started by building a database of people in the industry with Georgetown ties,” says Wooters. “I think it’s key that we asked for people’s time, not their money.

“We also started at the top, figuring that if a company’s leadership was on board then they could get other managers and employees to join as well. Using this approach we were able to grow the alliance quickly.”

Wooters explains that WSA always had networking events with guest speakers, but the idea for a gala fundraising dinner came in 2001. The first one was held that March at The Plaza hotel in New York City and featured remarks by honoree Paul Tagliabue (C’62), then the commissioner of the National Football League. That inaugural event drew 500 people and raised $1 million for the new Wall Street Alliance Scholarship Fund for undergraduate students.

The event has continued to grow with an endowment that today has a value of over $20M.

“Each year we have a speech by our honoree as well as one of the scholarship recipients,” says Wooters. “The highlight of each of these dinners is hearing from the past recipients and how the scholarship made the difference for them in attending Georgetown.”

A model for others to follow

“The Wall Street Alliance Dinner continues to succeed because we are never complacent,” says Wooters. “We are always tweaking the program, making changes. We also make sure we are meeting with students on the Hilltop to find out how we can help them.

“I’m proud that we’ve been a model for other Georgetown alliances and would love to see that tradition continue,” adds Wooters.

Inspired by the Wall Street Alliance, the Georgetown University Alumni Association now has several alliances related to professions including the Georgetown Entertainment and Media Alliance, the Georgetown Tech Alliance, the Georgetown Entrepreneurship Alliance, and the Georgetown Angel Investor Network.